Calderon Wins Mexico's Election

According to the New York Times, Conservative candidate Felipe Calderon has been declared the winner of the Mexican presidential election following a recount. Don't expect the leftist candidate to slink away quietly though.

"We cannot accept these results," said the leftist candidate, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a former mayor of Mexico City who has championed the cause of Mexico's impoverished millions. "There are many irregularities," he said, adding: "We are going to ask for clarity. We are going to ask for a vote count, polling place by polling place."

His decision not to concede defeat was a sign that Mexico is still far from having a new President. It also meant that the next move belongs to a special tribunal set up to handle electoral disputes, a court that has never before been ask to make such a momentous ruling.

After 24 hours of recounting tally sheets from 130,000 polling places, electoral officials said this morning that Mr. Calderón had 35.8 percent of the vote and Mr. López Obrador 35.3 percent, with 99.6 percent of the vote counted. A third major candidate, Roberto Madrazo, was far behind with 22.3 percent.

The tension continues...